Name: ______________________________________ Date: _______________________

Student Exploration: Phases of Water

Vocabulary: boil, condense, density, freeze, gas, liquid, melt, molecule, phase, solid, volume

Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

1. A pot filled with snow is left on a hot stove for a while. What would happen? First the snow
will melt into water. Then the water will heat up and eventually boil.

2. A phase is a state of matter, such as a solid, a liquid, or a gas. Which phases would you

see? Explain? Solid ice, liquid water, and water vapor.

3. A phase change is a change from one phase to another. What phase changes would you

see in this example? Melting and boiling will be seen in this example. Condensation might

be seen as well.

Gizmo Warm-up
In the Phases of Water Gizmo, you can heat up or cool down a
beaker of water.

1. Press Heat to heat up the water. Wait until the temperature

stops rising and observe. What happens?

The water heats up. After a while, bubbles are seen in the
water and the lid start to lift.

2. Why do you think the lid lifts up? because of the water vapor that is produced

3. Now press Chill to remove thermal energy from the water. What happens now? The water
cools down and freezes into ice.

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 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity A:
 If necessary, press Chill and wait until the
Phases of water
temperature is -20 °C.

Question: How does temperature affect the phase of water?

1. Observe: In the Gizmo, solid ice is gray, liquid water is blue, and water vapor gas is light
blue. Heat or Chill the water as needed to reach the temperatures below.

A. What phase is the water in at -20 °C? (Circle one): solid liquid gas

B. What phase is the water in at 30 °C? (Circle one): solid liquid gas

C. What phase is the water in at 105 °C? (Circle one): solid liquid gas

2. Hypothesis: How does the temperature affect the phase of water? As temperatures rise,
solids turn into liquids, and liquids turn into
3. gases.

4. Predict: Predict the phase of water at the six temperatures given below. List your predictions
in the Predicted phase row of the table. Then fill in the Actual phase row using the Gizmo.

Temperature -10 °C 10 °C 50 °C 90 °C 110 °C 120 °C

Predicted phase
(solid, liquid, or gas)
Actual phase
Solid liquid Liquid liquid gas gas
(solid, liquid, or gas)

5. Analyze: While testing your predictions, you may have noticed that there were specific
temperatures at which the phase of the water always changed.

A. At what temperature does water melt (change from solid to liquid)? 0°C

B. At what temperature does water boil (change from liquid to gas)? 100°C

C. At what temperature does water condense (change from gas to liquid)? 100°C

D. At what temperature does water freeze (change from liquid to solid)? 0°C

6. Extend your thinking: Describe an example of a phase change you’ve seen in real life.
One time a glass of ice water forms water droplets on the outside. I saw it on YouTube.

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 Activity B:
Get the Gizmo ready:
Comparing
 Click Chill until the water is completely frozen.
phases

Question: How are the phases of water different from one another?

1. Form hypothesis: One of the three phases holds its shape. The other two do not.

A. Based on your experience, which phase has a fixed shape? Solids

B. Which phases have a shape that can change? Liquids and gases

2. Observe: Water is made of small particles called molecules. Use the magnifying glass to
see the molecules of ice. Then click Heat to observe the liquid and gas phases. Draw a
sketch of the molecules in each phase below.

Solid Liquid Gas

3. Analyze: Based on your sketches, why do solids have a fixed shape while liquids and gases

do not? The intermolecular space between the atoms of solid matter is very very less, the

particles just so vibratory and rotatory motion.

4. Observe: Another way that phases are different is how they fill a container. Press Chill until
the water is completely frozen. Observe the ice without the magnifying glass.

A. Does the ice reach the top of the container, where the lid is? No

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 B. Click Heat until the ice is gone. Does the liquid water reach the top? No

C. Click Heat until the water boils. Does the water vapor reach the top? Yes

5. Draw conclusions: Which phase always fills its container? Gas

Which phases do not always fill their containers? Solids and liquids

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 Extension:
Get the Gizmo ready:
Volume and
 Press Chill until the water is completely frozen.
density

Introduction: The density of a substance refers to how much matter is packed into a particular
space, or volume. The denser the object, the more “tightly packed” it is. Objects that are less
dense tend to float in denser materials.

Question: How do phases of water compare in volume and density?

1. Form hypothesis: Answer the following questions based on your personal experience and
the observations you have made of the Gizmo:

A. Does an ice cube in water float or sink? Ice cubes float

B. When water boils, bubbles of water vapor form in the water. Do these bubbles tend

to rise or sink? Bubbles rise.

C. Which phase of water is densest? Liquid water

D. is densest Least dense? water vapor is least dense

2. Observe: Be sure all the water is frozen. Open the Tools tray at upper right, and drag an
arrow to mark the top of the ice. Then press Heat. Watch until all the ice has melted.

A. Does the liquid water take up as much space as the ice? Liquid water takes up
slightly less space than ice.

B. Wait until all the water has boiled away. Which takes up more space, the liquid water

or the water vapor? Water vapor takes up a lot more space.

C. Which phase of water is densest? Liquid Least dense? Gas

(Note: In most substances, the solid phase is densest. Water is unusual.)

3. Extend your thinking: Look at all three phases of water through the magnifying glass. How
does the spacing of molecules fit with what you found about densities of ice, liquid water,
and water vapor?

The closer the particles are together, the denser they are. This makes sense because a
solid is the densest and the particles are the closest together.

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